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Let the Festival begin!

Itâ€™s not too late to buy a subscription to the 10th Cape Town International Summer Music Festival, generously supported by the Cape Town City Council. You can benefit from a 20 per cent discount and enjoy one concert for free â€¦.. Itâ€™s wonderful to see that ticket sales are moving quickly. A reminder of whatâ€™s coming up at the Cape Town City Hall over the next few weeks â€¦

February 4
Donohoe plays Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky Piano Competition prizewinner Peter Donohoe will perform the 1st Piano Concerto by the great Russian; Bernhard Gueller will lead the CPO in the Overture by Berlioz, Roman Carnival, and the Symphony no 6 in D by DvoÅ™Ã¡k.

February 11
Kern meets Rachmaninov
Van Cliburn winner, the gifted, glamorous and generous Olga Kern will play not one but two works â€¦ the Third Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto in E-flat and the Rachmaninov Paganini Variations. Bernhard Gueller will direct the Polonaise from Tchaikovskyâ€™s Eugene Onegin and the Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz.

February 18
Bruch and Brahms
British violinist Jack Liebeck makes his South African debut in the Bruch Violin Concerto; Victor Yampolsky is back to conduct the CPO in the tone poem Don Juan by Richard Strauss and the Symphony no 4 in E minor by Brahms.

February 24 and 25
Beethoven Piano Concerto Cycle
The peerless Francois du Toit plays all five Beethoven concerti over two nights in a cycle that marks his 50th birthday. Nos. 1, 2 and 4 come first, followed by No. 3 and the Emperor (No. 5). Victor Yampolsky is on the podium.

March 3
175 Years of SA Jewry
Omri Hadari returns to conduct a concert that celebrates 175 years of Jewry in South Africa; pianist Aviram Reichert is the soloist in Gershwinâ€™s Rhapsody in Blue. The other works on the programme are the overture to Candide by Bernstein and the Symphony No. 2 in E minor by Rachmaninov.

But thereâ€™s more...

February 6
Symphony of Ghazal
Artscape Opera at 20:30.
More on this below

February 7
Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Youth Wind Ensemble Gala
Artscape Theatre at 15:00.More on this below

February 14
The final round of the Len van Zyl
Conductorâ€™s Competition
City Hall at 20:00. More on this below

Symphony of Ghazal on February 6

Indian violin maestro to perform world premiere of new concerto
Lovers of Indian Classical Music, and particularly the lighter form of ghazal, will be in for a treat when noted Indian violinist and composer Deepak Pandit premieres his new work Symphony of Ghazal in concert with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra on February 6 at 8.30 pm at Artscape Opera. The concert will be conducted by Brandon Phillips. Symphony of Ghazal, presented by Inner Circle Entertainment, is a celebration of the music of the late ghazal legend Jagjit Singh. Pandit accompanied Singh as his violinist for 23 years performing in more than one thousand concerts across the globe, including South Africa. Pandit has also scored and arranged music for Singh. The concert will bring together the styles of Indian and Western Classical music in a unique way and will expose the audience to a tapestry woven from Indian Classical, semi-classical, and ghazal as it interweaves the beautiful harmonisation of the symphony orchestra. Listen to Deepak Pandit here.Read more

Cape Town Philharmonic Youth showcase February 7

As part of the annual Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestraâ€™s International Summer Music Festival which is supported by the City of Cape Town, the talented and passionate musicians of the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (CPYO) and Cape Town Philharmonic Wind Ensemble (CPYWE) will be again be showcased in their own concert.
The concert, on Sunday, February 7, at Artscape Theatre, will also feature the rising stars in the CPYOâ€™s string ensemble and junior wind band. Both ensembles, which were formed 14 years ago, have made their mark on Cape Townâ€™s music scene, giving acclaimed concerts all over the city and into the northern areas under their conductors, Brandon Phillips and Faan Malan. Soloists on the programme are Idols winner Loki Rothman in Parisienne Walkways and Dehanre Kiewiets and the Elsieâ€™s River High School in â€œUptown Funkâ€ and more; other pieces feature great young musicians before a rousing encore. Phillips will conduct the CPYO in one movement from the Symphony no 9 by DvoÅ™Ã¡k, while Malan will direct the CPYWE in a programme that includes LeRoy Anderson, Gershwin and Coplandâ€™s Fanfare for the Common Man.
Tickets are from R90 from Computicket on 0861 915 8000/ www.computicket.com and Artscape Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695. More information cpo.org.za / laurika@cpo.org.za 021 410 9809.

Soloists for the 3rd Len van Zyl Conductorsâ€™ Competition

Three brilliant young musicians have been chosen as the soloists to perform in the 3rd Len van Zyl Conductorsâ€™ Competition with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and three talented young conductors on the cusp of a career and who will have reached the final round. The concert takes place on February 14 at the Cape Town City Hall at 20:00.

Jeffrey Armstrong (19), former concertmaster of the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra who is in his first year at the Birmingham Conservatoire, will play the Introduction and Rondo Capriccio by Saint-SaÃ«ns; Shaheel Kooverjee (19) will play the first movement of the Second Piano Concerto no 2 in C minor by Rachmaninov, and Leo Gevisser (12), will play the first movement of the Piano Concerto in G by Ravel. Gevisser and Kooverjee performed in the Artscape National Youth Music Festival. The other works on the programme are Capriccio Espagnol by Rimsky Korsakov, Noon Witch by DvoÅ™Ã¡k and the overture from TannhÃ¤user by Wagner. Read more

Pick 'n Pay and the CPYO!

The value of good music is seen by Pick â€˜n Pay and itâ€™s use of the CPYO and Brandon Phillips in this clip.